Chapter 40 - Extent of four Yugas (caturyuga-parimāṇa)

Indra said:

1. In Kali age men excited by tamoguṇa adopt Māyā (deception) and jealousy. They do not hesitate to kill ascetics. They are always tormented by jealousy.

2. In Kali age there is always carelessness, illness, hunger, fear, and terrible suffering from drought. There is also opposition from and among the different parts of the country.

3. Śruti (i. e. Vedas) is not considered an authority. Men resort to sinful activity. People are sinful, irritable and narrowminded. They misbehave.

4. Greedy and wicked subjects, born in Kali utter falsehood. They are engaged in evil desires, evil study, misbehaviour and misleading scriptural texts.

5. Due to defects in the activities of the brahmins fear arises in the subjects. The twice-born neglect the study of Vedas and do not sacrifice as prescribed.

6- 7. Men perish. Kṣatriyas and Vaiśyas decline gradually. In Kali Śūdras claim kinship with brahmins through their learning through interdining and sharing seats and beds. Kings become mostly. Śūdras and they harass brahmins.

8. Killing of foetus and murder of heroes become prevalent. Śūdras adopt the conduct of life prescribed for the brahmins and the brahmins adopt the ways of Śūdras.

9. Thieves function as kings and kings function as thieves. The chaste ladies cease to exist and wanton sluts increase in number.

10. Stability and discipline of four castes and stages of life disappear from all places. At that time the earth yields very little fruit in one place and great fruits in another.

11. O Śilāśana, the kings confiscate and misappropriate public property. They cease to be protectors. Śūdras acquire knowledge and are honoured by the brahmins.

12. Non-kṣatriyas become rulers. Brahmins depend on Śūdras. Śūdras proud of their intellect remain sitting in their seats and do not stir on seeing brahmins.

13-18 Petty-minded Śūdras strike the leading brahmins. Out of humility, brahmins keep their hand over their mouth and whisper into the ears of base Śūdras. O noble Brahmins, knowing that Śūdras are seated on lofty seats amidst brahmins, the king does not punish them. People of meagre learning, fortune and strength worship Śūdras with flowers, scents and other auspicious things. O brahmin, arrogant Śūdras do not even glance at the excellent brahmins. Waiting for their opportunity to serve them, the brahmins stand at their thresholds: The brahmins depending upon Śūdras serve them when they return seated in their vehicles and eulogise them by means of eulogies and prayers. In Kali, even the excellent brahmins demean themselves by selling the fruits of their austerities and sacrifices.

19-25. In Kali there will be many ascetics. As the yuga draws to a close, men become reduced in number while women increase in proportion. In Kali even the brahmins censure Vedic learning and holy rites. In Kali lord Mahādeva, Śaṅkara, Nīlalohita reveals himself as one of deformed features, for the establishment of righteousness. The brahmins who resort to him by any means conquer the evils of Kali and attain the highest abode.

It should be known that towards the close of yuga, the beasts of prey will be very violent. Cows will decline and good men will recede from active spheres. Their Dharma which is subtle, conducive to good results and difficult of access, which has its roots in charitable gifts, becomes shaky due to instability in the four stages of life. The kings misappropriate shares from the oblations offered to God. They do not protect the people. Towards the close of yuga, they will be more interested in protecting themselves. In Kali cooked food will be kept for sale in living places. The selling of Vedas and other sacred literature will occur in cross streets; young women will sell even their honour.^[1]

26-31. The lord of rain will be wayward in making showers at the close of yuga. Merchants will resort to malpractices. They will be surrounded by heretics indulging in vain outward show. There will be many beggars and petitioners among the people soliciting one another. There will be no one not indulging in harsh words; there will not be any straightforward man; there will hardly be anyone who is not jealous; when the yuga comes to a close, there will scarcely be any man readily willing to return the help rendered. Fallen people and censurers characterise this closing period -of yuga. The earth will be devoid of kings, riches and foodgrains will not flourish; groups of conspirators will be formed in the cities and countries. The earth will have short supply of water and will be deficient in fruits. Those assigned to be protectors will not be so. They will not be subject to discipline.

32-33. Men will rob others of their wealth and violate the chastity of other men’s wives. They will be lustful, wicked at heart, base and foolhardy. They will lose proper perspective of things. Suffering from colic they will have their hairs dishevelled. Towards the close of the yuga people will be born whose age will be only sixteen years.

34. When the end of the yuga is imminent Śūdras will begin the practice of dharma with white teeth, deerskin and Kudrākṣa beads, with shaven heads añd ochre-coloured robes.

35. Men will steal plants and grains. They will covet the clothes they see; thieves will rob other thieves of their wealth; one robber will rob another.

36-37. When noble and befitting holy rites are no longer performed; when all the people become inactive and lethargic, germs, mice and serpents will torment men. Prosperity, welfare, health and efficiency will be difficult to attain. People afflicted by hunger and fear will resort to the lands near the Kauśikī^[2] river.

38-39. People overwhelmed by misery will never see the maximum span of life of hundred years. In Kali all the Vedas will not be available. Yajñas perish afflicted by people of no virtue. Ochre-robed and naked anchorites will be wandering and many Kāpālikas (ascetics holding skulls as their begging bowls) will infest the territories.

40-41. Some sell Vedas and others sell Tīrthas (holy waters) i.e. make illegal gain out of these. When Kali yuga begins heretics will be born who will be opposed to the system of four castes and stages of life. Śūdras will learn the Vedas and will become experts in the meaning of dharma.

42-44. Kings boṛn of Śūdra wombs will perform horsesacrifice. People begin to harass one another by killing women, children, cows and one another.

Since people are inclined towards evil, their behaviour will be wrought by tamoguṇa. At that time the crimes such as the slaughter of a brahmin begin to appear.

45. Hence during Kali, longevity strength and features become less and less. Men attain perfection within a short while.

46-47. Excellent brahmins of blessed nature will still practise dharma without malice towards the end of yuga as laid down in the Śrutis and Smṛtis. What is gained by the practice of dharma for a year in Tretā is attained by the practice of it for a month in Dvāpara. In Kali an intelligent devotee attains the same in a day by practising Dharma strenuously.^[3]

48. This is the state of affairs in the Kali yuga. Understand the situation in the period of ending junction (sandhyāṃśa) from me. In every yuga the Siddhis are reduced to three-fourths of what they were in the beginning.

49. Only a quarter of the features of the yugas remains in their sandhyās (preceding transition periods). Similarly only a quarter of the features of the sandhyās abides in the san-dhyāṃśas (succeeding transition periods) (i.e. during the sandhyāṃśa period only ⅙ of the yuga Dharma will prevail).

50-53. When the yuga has come to a close and the period of junction too has arrived, the chastiser of the wicked people will rise up in order to kill all the bad living beings. He will be born in the family of the Moon. He will be called Pramiti by name, Previously in the Svāyambhuva manvantara, he had been born of the parts of Manu (i.e. in the family of then Manu); for full twenty years he will be roaming about on the earth. He will be taking along with him a big army consisting of horses, chariots and elephants. He will be surrounded by hundreds and thousands of brahmins wielding weapons. He will kill the Mlecchas (alien outcaste people) in thousands.

54-55. After killing the kings of Śūdrā wombs he will exterminate the heretics completely. He will kill those who are not pious and virtuous* He will kill those who are born of different castes and those who depend upon them.

56. Thus making himself powerful with an active army under his control, he the destroyer of the Mlecchas, invincible to all living beings, will roam about the world.

57-58. In the previous birth he was born in the family of Manu who himself was a part incarnation of Viṣṇu. When, the Kali yuga is complete (i.e. coming to an end) he will be born in the line of the Moon as the powerful Pramiti.^[4] He will start his campaign in his thirty second year and continue it for twenty years.

59. He will be killing hundreds and thousands of living beings. By means of this cruel act be will reduce the entire earth to the seeds.

60-69. Getting infuriated mutually (the people will attack one another). Pramiti will defeat all those alien outcastes and all unrighteous persons and ultimately rest in the middle land between the Gaṅgā and Yamuna along with his ministers and followers, after killing all the kings and alien outcastes in thousands. When the sandhyāṃśa period sets in at the end of the yuga there will be groups of people among the subjects left behind here and there. Getting unrestrained and covetous they will be attacking and killing one another. When anarchy spreads in view of the series of affairs in the yuga, when people begin to suspect one another, all those people will be afflicted by fear. Agitated and bewildered they will leave off their wives and houses. They will not care even for their own lives. Though themselves miserable yet they will be worthless. When the holy rites laid down in the Śrutis and Smṛtis perish, these people will attack and kill one another. When Dharma is destroyed they will become mannerless, unbounded, shameless and unloving. They will not hesitate to attack one another. They will be stunted in growth and live as far as twenty-five years.^[5] Getting involved in disputes they will abandon wives and sons. When lack of rain affects them they will abandon agriculture. They will leave off their land and resort to frontiers.^[6] They will resort to rivers, oceans, mountains and wells.

70. In their misery they will sustain themselves on wine, meat, roots and fruits. They will wear barks of trees, leaves or deer skin. They will not perform holy rites or accept monetary gifts.

71. They will fall off from the rigid discipline of four castes and stages of life. They will be involved in a terrible calamity. Thus the few remaining subjects at the end of Kaliyuga will be in miserable circumstances.

72-73. They will be afflicted by old age, sickness and hunger. Due to sorrow their minds will become dejected. Through dejection thinking sets in. An even attitude of the mind is what is called vicāraṇā (thinking). This attitude leads to knowledge. Through true knowledge arises pious nature. The subjects who survive the concluding years of Kaliyuga will be devoid of physical features and mental peace.

74- 78. At that time, the yuga changes for them overnight, after creating illusion in their minds as in the case of a sleeping or mad man. Thanks to the inevitability and force of future events Kṛtayuga will set in. When thus the Kṛtayuga is ushered in, the subjects surviving from the Kaliyuga, become those belonging to the Kṛtayuga. Those Siddhas^[7] (enlightened souls) who still remain and move about invisibly, will be made manifest then along with the sleeping Saptarṣis, (seven sages).^[8] There will be some brahmins, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras for the purpose of seeds [i.e. as nucleus for the subsequent generation. They will get mixed with the people surviving from the Kaliyuga. The seven sages and others will teach these people their Dharma.

79. They will teach them the two-fold Dharma of the Śruti and Smṛti^[9] along with the conduct of life peculiar to the four castes and stages of life.

Thereafter when they begin to perform holy rites, the subjects flourish in the Kṛtayuga.

80-83. When the Dharmas have been propounded by the seven sages, other sages promulgate them (among the people) by differentiating them between those pertaining to Śruti and Smṛti. Some of these sages stay even at the time of dissolution for the purpose of establishing Dharma. The sages indeed stay in office throughout the manvantara, just as trees remain (unaffected) when the forest fire consumes the grass. But when rain falls this grows up again. In the same manner, after the people of Kali die the people of Kṛta yuga come up. The continuity from one yuga to another goes on without break in this manner till the manvantara comes to a close.

84. Happiness, longevity, strength, beauty (or physical features), virtue, wealth and love become reduced to three-fourths from yuga to yuga gradually.

85. The Siddhis of Dharma become (proportionately) reduced in the parts of the junctions of yugas. Thus the mode of achievement in order has been recounted.

86-92. In the same manner all the four yugas must be understood. A thousand such cycles of four yugas are said to constitute one day of Brahmā. The night too consists of as many yugas. By the time the yuga comes to a close the living beings lose their straightforward and sentient feelings. This is the characteristic feature of all the yugas. Seventy-one cycles of four yugas constitute a manvantara. What happens in one set of four yugas is repeated in the other cycles of four yugas in the same manner and at the same time as well as in the same order. The differences that occur from creation to creation are limited to twenty-five, neither more nor less. The kalpas too have the same characteristics as the yugas. The same characteristics mark all the manvantaras also.

93. Just as the changes and alterations in the yugas have happened from early days (and have continued for a long time) in view of the nature of the yugas, so also the world of living beings goes round and round alternating between death and birth.

94. Thus the characteristic feature of the yugas of the past and future in all the manvantaras has been recorded in brief.

95. With the explanation of one manvantara all the manvantaras have been undoubtedly explained; similarly with one kalpa and other kalpas too.

96-100. In regard to the future kalpas the same argument should be continued by one who knows. In all the manvantaras past and future, the eight^[10] classes of Devas, the ruling lords of manvantaras, Manus and sages will have the same status through their names and forms, as also the same purpose and intention. The same is the case with the division of castes and stages of life in every yuga. It is the lord who lays down the nature and characteristics of the yugas, the divisions of castes and stages of life, the yugas and the Siddhis of the yugas. Incidentally, the magnitude of the yugas was mentioned to you. I shall now recount to you how the lotus-born deity became Brahmā the son of the goddess.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

aṭṭaśūla [aṭṭaśūlāḥ]—aṭṭaṃ kanyādravyaṃ śūlo yeṣāṃ Śivatoṣiṇī.—those who indulge in the barter of girls. Or aṭṭa—cooked food. Śivaśūla [Śivaśūlāḥ]—those who indulge in the sale of Vedas. Catuṣpatha [catuṣpathāḥ]—brāhmaṇas (Medini cited in Śivatoṣiṇī.) Keśaśūla [keśaśūlāḥ]—tyaktalajjā [tyaktalajjāḥ] Śivatoṣiṇī. Or those who have bartered their chastity. * muktakeśa [mukta-keśāḥ]—apagatahrīkā [apagatahrīkāḥ]. Cf. Viśva cited in Śivatoṣiṇī.

[2]:

Kauśikī. It is the modem Kosi that issues from the Himalayas, flows through Nepal and Tirhut and joins the Ganges below Patna. But originally the river passed through North Bengal and fell into the Brahmaputra. See Sircar, [Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India] (D.C. Sarkar) p. 42.

[3]:

Cf. Viṣṇu as cited in Śivatoṣiṇī.—[yatkṛte daśabhirvarṣaistretāyāṃ hāyanena tat | dvāpare yajñamāsena ahorātreṇa tatkalau || tapaso brahmacaryasya jaṣādeśca phalaṃ dvijāḥ | prāpnoti puruṣastena kaliḥ sādhviti bhāṣitam ||]

[4]:

Pramiti—Candragupta Vikramāditya II, son of Samudragupta. A similar account is found in Matsya, Chapter 144. For detail, see Matsyapurāṇa—A Study, by V.S. Agrawal, pp. 228-231.

[5]:

pañcaviṁśaka [pañcaviṁśakāḥ] i.e. with their span of life extending only to twenty-five years or whose gross and subtle bodies constitute twenty-five tattvas.

[6]:

pratyantān—mlecchadeśān Śivatoṣiṇī. Cf. pratyanto mlecchadeśaḥ syāt—Amara.

[7]:

Siddhas—a class of human beings of great purity, holiness and divine power. They are said to be seven. Cf. mantrajño mantravit prājño mantrarāṭ siddhapūjitaḥ siddhavat paramaḥ siddhaḥ sarvasiddhipradāyinaḥ—cited in Śivatoṣiṇī.

[8]:

seven sages, viz. Marīci, Atri, Aṅgiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu and Vasiṣṭha. They are represented by a group of seven stars called Ursa Major. Śivatoṣiṇī, cites a verse with a few variations in names: [kaśyapo'trir bharadvajo viśvāmitro'tha gautamaḥ vasiṣṭho jamadagniś ca saptarṣaya udahṛtāḥ]

[9]:

Śrauta and Smārta dharma: norms of righteousness derived from the authority of Śruti (Vedas) and Smṛtis (legal treatises).

[10]:

Eight classes of Devas: Cf. [āditya-viśva-vasavas-tuṣita-bhāsvarānilāḥ mahārakṣika-sādhyās ca rudrās ca gaṇadevatāḥ—cited in Śivatoṣiṇī.